October is usually one of the more active months for horror
film releases and now that it has finally come and gone we should take a look
at how the horror genre is faring in 2013.
It should be noted that this October was a very light month for horror
which only had the release of the high profile Carrie (2013) remake since this will be the first year within the
last four that a Paranormal Activity
film has not been released (it should be noted that Paranormal Activity 5 will be back next October along with the
spin-off The Marked Ones in early
2014).
THE BEST.
Zombies are the tops both at the Box Office and on the small
screen (with the ever growing success of The
Walking Dead). World War Z managed to be the highest grossing horror film of the
year so far with over $202.4 million in its coffers. This is terrific for the horror genre as it
proves that horror films can have mainstream success. Now I know there are many of you out there
who still can’t get over the fact that this film has almost absolutely nothing
to do with its literary source material but you have to hand it to Brad Pitt
and the film makers that they did deliver a pulse pounding action and suspense
filled zombie film. Regardless of your
opinions on the film it was a massive success both domestically and abroad (another
$337.6 million) guaranteeing a sequel to be in the works.
Next up is the one-two punch from director James Wan with The Conjuring and Insidious Chapter 2 ($137.4 and $83.1 million, respectfully). He delivered one of the biggest word of mouth
successes of the year with The Conjuring. This haunted house film based on a true story
was one of the big success stories of the year both at the domestic and foreign
box office (worldwide gross at $316.7). Insidious Chapter 2 took what was
popular with the first film and expanded upon it delivering a sequel that
grossed more than the first one. It is
hard to produce a successful horror sequel (just look at the dismal returns of The Last Exorcism Part 2 and Texas Chainsaw 3D) but there is no
denying the popularity of this franchise with audiences.
Pacific Rim was
neither a huge hit nor a failure with its $101.8 domestic haul. It was a film designed to play better at the
foreign box office which is did in spades (another $305.8 million foreign). It was a huge success overseas but here in
the states the film was a well received (and reviewed) oddity similar to
director Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy films.
Next up are a few sleeper hits which really mean films that
weren’t expected to do well but surpassed expectations – Mama, Warm Bodies, and The
Purge. Mama was an early 2013 surprise hit taking in $71.6 million. This film (produced by Guillermo del Toro)
came out of nowhere and got great word of mouth and played very well to
audiences in the early part of the year.
Warm Bodies became one of the
few YA films to actual find an audience with a haul of $66.4 million. It also played well overseas (another $50.6
million foreign) proving that zombies, whether they be the fast moving kind of World War Z or the romantic kind of this
film, dominate the box office and audiences can’t get enough. It also helps that the film was actually good
and word of mouth helped it find its audience.
The Purge ended up being this
year’s over achiever with a budget of $3 million yet it grossed over $64
million. These are great numbers from a
financial point but audiences were a little disappointed by the film and word
of mouth for this film was not so great.
The investment for the film was indeed a great thing and a sequel is in
the works so let’s hope that the next film actually delivers the goods.
Further down the list is Hansel
& Gretel: Witch Hunters which grossed a so-so $55.7 million (but
another $170 million foreign) which is nothing to brag about considering how
much the film cost $50 million to produce but what should be noted is the fact
that this film was one of the most entertaining films of the year made for a
cult audience. It may not have found its
audience at the box office but it will as a cult movie.
The remake of Evil
Dead is also a minor success story with $54.2 million (against a $17
million production budget) as it was a remake that was both a financial and
critical success. Dropping the
horror-comedy trappings of the original franchise this remake decided to go for
broke as a dead serious gore filled horror extravaganza that also happened to
be well written, acted, and directed.
This will be remembered as one of the best remakes of the decade.
The re-release of Jurassic
Park in 3D added another $45.4 million to its gross making it one of the
more successful 3D re-releases (with an accumulated gross over time of $1.03
billion worldwide). In a declining 3D
marketplace it’s good to know that there are still a few films out there worth
paying the extra few dollars for the upgrade and you can’t go wrong with this classic.
That concludes our list of the Top 10 grossing horror films
of the year but let’s take a few moments to look at a few of the other films.
ALL THE REST.
Riddick, the third
part of the Riddick saga, didn’t fare as well as expected with $42.03 million
but it wasn’t as disliked as the previous film and it did return the character
back to his roots. It also did so-so compare
to its actual production cost which was a meager $38 million (ending its
theatrical run with $93.6 worldwide).
A Haunted House was a huge low budget
success story with $40.04 million (against a $2.5 million budget) and a sequel is already
in the works for 2014 proving that you can’t keep a good parody down. The same cannot be said for Scary Movie 5 which is the lowest
grossing in the franchise with an anemic $32.01 million.
Sequels also did not do so well as Texas Chainsaw 3D started well opening at number one at the box
office with $21.7 million but then audience indifference only allowed the film
to end its run with a meager $34.3 million.
The Last Exorcism Part 2 also
did horrible at the box office with a non-existent $15.2 million (with a budget
of $5 million). The first film really
should have been the first, only, and last.
R.I.P.D. was
D.O.A. with only $33.6 million making it one of the biggest box office duds of
the year (production budget at $130 million).
Also, the festival favorite You’re
Next could not find its audience grabbing only a meager $18.5 million. This was one of the few well received horror
films that just could not catch a break (it sat on the studio shelf for two
years). Dark Skies was also non-existent at the box office never finding
its audience with a so-so $17.4 million but since the film cost only a little
over $3.5 million to produce it didn’t hurt as much.
With Carrie being
the last horror film released this year thus far (at only approximately $34.5
million) it’s hard to determine the tastes of audiences as the success stories
are so independent of one another.
Zombie films and any movie directed by James Wan were “in” while sequels
were definitely “out”. There were so
many different types of films to choose from that it seemed like most audiences
just waited for word of mouth to tell them what movies to go see. It just goes to show you that the horror
genre is far from predictable and that 2014 will be open season for everything
to start all over again.
All info about film grosses and budgets were obtained from Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com).
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